Vertical 3D Gold
|
INFOLETTER 18August 2001
Dear Bone and Joint Decade supporting organisation and friend,
On behalf of the BJD Steering Committee I am pleased to report to you of the latest achievements in regard to the initiative.
Lars Lidgren, Chairman of the Steering Committee
Governmental Support Now Includes 35 NationsMorocco: Professor Najia Hajjaj-Hassouni (Mrs), President of the Moroccan Society of Rheumatology has informed the BJD Secretariat that the Moroccan Government officially has given their endorsement to the Bone and Joint Decade. For more information, e-mail n.hajjaj.hassouni@acdim.net.ma
National Action Network ActivitiesAustria: Reported on a "Launch - Pressekonferenz am 3.7.2001" in Austria with a multidisciplinary professional group and patient representatives presenting on musculoskeletal disorders. The press coverage was extensive.
Please contact Univ. Prof. Rainer Kotz, BJD Coordinator in Austria, email: rainer.kotz@univie.ac.at.
Colombia: Dr. Carlo-Vinicio Caballero, President of Colombian Rheumatology Association, reports that his organisation has called major associations to work together at the government level to get endorsement from the Colombian Government. Letters have been sent to the Ministry of Health and the representatives of five medical associations are having a new meeting next month in order to sign a joint declaration.
They have planned a medical congress celebrating BJD during next year and they are working on a national awareness day. e-mail: carvica@celcaribe.net.co
This means that we have got a new National Action Network. At the moment we have 47 NANs.
Hungary: One of the priorities of the recently issued Hungarian National Health Program aims to improve the care and quality of life of patients with musculoskeletal diseases, very much in the line of the Bone and Joint Decade.
Another ten years' programme of the Hungarian Government is the development of health and spa tourism. Spa resorts in Hungary play an important role in rehabilitation of patients with musculoskeletal diseases. For more information please contact Professor Géza Bálint, BJD Coordinator e-mail: balintg@mail.datanet.hu
India: The BJD office has received a report with abstracts from a BJD Awareness Conference in Chennai on July 29, 2001. Dr T K Shanmugasundaram, Chairman, National Action Network, India gave a welcome and briefing. He mentioned that India is the 33rd country in the world to have endorsed its support to the BJD. He thanked Shri Javed A. Chowhary, Union Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government for India for his assistance to enable a billion people to join the Movement. The central theme for the Scientific Sessions was Epidemiology and Data Collection with papers on Epidemiology, Patient Empowerment, Rheumatology, Endocrinology, Spinal Disorders and Traumatology. 26 papers were presented in the five sessions. Email: tks_s@hotmail.com
Italy: The Italian NAN had a meeting in Milan on July 2. 15 scientific and patients societies were represented. The venue was the Circolo della Stampa in Milan. The establishment of legal structure was decided in order to receive contributions from both the participant societies and possible donators.
The proposals of research for funding on topics regarding the BJD will be examined by the Council of the Italian NAN: projects that will be accepted will receive a modest economic contribution from the NAN and could be published under the aegis of the Italian NAN. For more information please contact Prof. Giorgio Brunelli, BJD Coordinator, e- mail: brunell.g@dracmanet.com
Morocco: The Moroccan Society of Rheumatology organized the Xth Mediterranean Congress of Rheumatology in Rabat (Morocco) in September 2000,which was a great success. Thanks to this congress they could inform their authorities about the decade as well as the Moroccan medias which organized several sessions about bone and joint problems in Morocco. These committees are called in French "cellules de réflexion pour la décade 2000-2010"
The Moroccan Society of Rheumatology has also its official journal edited twice a year with information related to the Decade. For more information, e-mail: n.hajjaj.hassouni@acdim.net.ma
Singapore: The National Action Network - Singapore will be participating in the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Singapore Society of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology, which is being organised by one of their participating organisations. They are going to further publish the work of the Decade to the participants, which will mainly come from the SouthEast Asian region. The meeting will be held from 7 - 9 September 2001. For more information please contact Dr Hiok Hee Chng, BJD Coordinator e-mail Hiok_Hee_Chng@notes.ttsh.gov.sg
UK: Scotland, June 18-23, 2001. At the annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS), Professor Björn Rydevik, chairman of the Swedish NAN, gave an update on the current status of the global campaign of the Bone and Joint Decade.
The audience represented various disciplines working with lumbar spine problems and there were about 400 participants at the meeting. The BJD update gave an overview of the background for the global campaign, the overall goals as well as a recommendation to the participants, who came from different countries, to contact their respective national BJD co-ordinators.
The ISSLS will continue to provide its membership and other annual meeting participants with information regarding the development of the Bone and Joint Decade campaign. For more info, contact: bjorn.rydevik@orthop.gu.se
US: A very important milestone is now passed in US as all fifty states have endorsed the initiative and over 55 US musculoskeletal-related organisations have become participating organisations. The next network meeting will take place on October 22 in NY.
The Monitor ProjectAn approved draft of the Technical Report has now been sent to WHO. Professor Lars Lidgren has sent an accompanying letter to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO, together with a short summary of the Technical Report to be used during the Action Week.
Corporate supportWe would like to welcome two new corporate supporters, Merck and Schering-Plough and Verigen as a corporate partner for Technical Development.
Other itemsFor the first time, a public-private partnership will bring together new resources and commitment to help find biological markers for the progression of osteroarthritis (OA) a degenerative joint disease that is a major cause of disability in people 65 and older. Over 5 - 7 years, the NIH Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) will collect information and define disease standards on 5,000 people at high risk of having OA or at high risk of progressing to severe OA during the course of the study.
The OAI consortium includes $8 million yearly funding for a period of 5 years from the NIH and private funding from several pharmaceutical companies: Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Pfizer. For more information on the OAI, visit: www.nih.gov/niams/news/oisg/index.htm
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) reports: An International Art Exhibition-Emotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art will be opening at the United Nations Jan 21 and run through Feb. 28. There will be a big opening on Tuesday January 22, 6-8 pm.
This is one of the Academy's big BJD projects and you are cordially invited if you happen to be in NY. The art show has been in San Francisco, DC, in February and will be in Chicago this Fall.
Action WeekPlease send to the BJD office a copy of your program, flyer or other material developed for the event by 1 September, 2001.
BJD International Awards and BJD AmbassadorsAll NANs and Participating Organisations, please send in the Nomination Forms for BJD International Awards, must be received by 10 September, 2001. Send in the Nomination Forms for BJD Ambassadors at the same time.
NYC meetingNANs only
Please send in the registration form for the Annual Action Network Meeting in NYC by 20 September, 2001. Hotel registration deadline is 20 September.
All participants are responsible for making their own hotel reservation with the Roosevelt Hotel. Telephone: +1 212 661-9600, Fax: +1 212 885-6162.
The BJD websitePlease send in information on activities and events to the BJD Secretariat, bjd@ort.lu.seand we will put it on the web.
The Bone and Joint Decade SecretariatIf you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact our secretary in Lund, Agneta Jonsson, bjd@ort.lu.se.
Next InfoletterWill be sent out on October 26, information to be included, please submit before October 12.
| Corporate partners for research and education |
 |
 |
|
|